Chapter 660: Another Bet

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

"..." Wu Zhen cried silently.

I really only wanted to prove myself...

Who in the world did I offend for this to become of me?

Even though he had exerted his zhenqi at the final moment to protect his vitals, he was still pierced by several hundred needles. Furthermore, each of them had pierced at least an inch deep, leaving him in deep pain.

What is the use of saying be careful now?

Didn’t you use the metal hammer to smash the stone tablet just now as well?

Why didn’t it work for me?

The same location, the same strength, and the same technique... and yet, you opened up a passageway whereas I transformed into a human cactus...

Tears streamed down Wu Zhen’s face as he trembled in indignation. Driving his zhenqi through his body, he flexed his muscles, and the needles lodged into his flesh were immediately jolted out. With a flick of his wrist, he took out the wine gourd he received from Zhang Xuan.

As Princess Fei-er didn’t use it all back then, he still had a portion of the ’Saint recovery medicine’. Since he was wounded all over at the moment, this was the perfect time to use it.

"Since this is an external wound..."

Wu Zhen deduced the logic behind Zhang shi’s words before uncorking the cap and pouring the wine all over his body.

On the opposite side of the river, Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched upon seeing the sight.

"Cough cough..."

Of course, he remembered this wine! He had no choice but to feign it as a gift due to Luo Zhao, Feng Yu, and Chen Yue cornering Hong shi back then... The basis behind its healing property was Heaven’s Path zhenqi, but considering how a few days had passed, the zhenqi contained within the wine had already long dried out. In other words, what was within the gourd was just ordinary wine... and to pour alcohol on such gaping wound would surely be excruciating...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"AHH..."

While Zhang Xuan was still in his thoughts, the sound of a pig being butchered echoed in the air. Wu Zhen’s entire body convulsed as though it had been shocked.

In terms of pain, rubbing alcohol on one’s wounds was really not much different from rubbing salt on them. The immense suffering that he felt threatened to steal his consciousness away from him.

Watching as white foam started pouring out from the edges of the other party’s mouth, Zhang Xuan immediately instructed, "Little Qi, quickly feed him a recovery pill. Otherwise... I fear that he might just die!"

"Yes!"

Luo Qiqi quickly rushed over, pinched open the other party’s mouth, and fed him a recovery pill.

Only with the consumption of the recovery pill did the other party’s complexion finally recover slightly.

While the needles weren’t fatal, there were simply too many of them. Not to mention, the alcohol also had other ingredients in it that would only aggravate one’s wounds.

Thus, even though Wu Zhen had managed to survive the ordeal with the help of the recovery pill, he was in terrible shape. His vision was a little unclear, his face was entirely swollen, and he felt listless.

Standing up, he shot a glare at Zhang shi and began weeping silently.

You liar!

Be it the metal hammer striking the stone tablet or the Saint recovery medicine...

I must have been a fool to trust you!

"Allow me."

Not expecting Wu Zhen to be so rash as to rush to the other stone tablet without allowing him to finish his words, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly. Along with Xing Yuan and the others, he walked over to the other side.

He took the Thousand Utility Umbrella from Wu Zhen’s hands, and with a flick of his wrist, the Thousand Utility Thorn appeared. Then, he aimed it at the stone tablet before him and stabbed it in.

Ding ding ding!

Three crisp mechanical clicks sounded.

Jiya! Jiya!

The stone tablet slowly split apart, revealing a towering door.

"Aren’t you supposed to use the metal hammer..."

Wu Zhen staggered at that sight.

"Ah. Adaptability is a very important in deciphering mechanisms. The Thousand Utility Thorn works perfectly fine on this stone tablet!" Zhang Xuan said.

"..." Wu Zhen.

Ignoring Wu Zhen, who was on the verge of a breakdown, the group walked over to the entrance.

Within it was a flight of stone stairs leading to the bottom of the stream as well, but the direction was the complete opposite to the other passageway’s. Most likely, the two passageways led to different places.

"There are indeed two underground chambers..."

A grim expression appeared on everyone’s face. At that moment, the surface of the bridge not too far away from them shook, and the sound of cogs whirring into action echoed through the chamber.

A cold voice abruptly boomed.

"Congratulations for opening the two entrances. However, each one of you can only choose one door to enter. You’ll have an incense’s time to choose, and once you make your choice, retreat is no longer an option!"

Knowing the importance of this matter, Wu Zhen put aside his grudges and began explaining.

"It’s ’Mechanical Recorder’!"

"Mechanical Recorder?" Everyone was confused.

"Un. On top of creating traps reminiscent of formations, there are some formidable mechanisms that are capable of recording human speech as well. Upon triggering it, the voice recorded within will play," Wu Zhen explained.

"I see!" Zhang Xuan was surprised, but his astonishment didn’t last for too long.

There were plenty of similar gadgets in his previous life as well. For example, the music box consisted of various mechanisms to play a specific melody. Given the incredible technology celestial designers wielded, it shouldn’t be too difficult for them to create a machine that could emulate human speech.

Interrupting Wu Zhen, Princess Yu Fei-er said, "Now isn’t the time to be bothering about that, let’s discuss which passageway we should choose instead!"

"Un!" The group nodded.

The trigger to the recorded voice was probably the opening of both entrances. According to the words from the voice in the Mechanical Recorder, they had to choose between the two entrances within an incense’s time.

They hardly had the luxury to be thinking about anything else at the moment.

After a moment of hesitation, Luo Qiqi revealed her own conjecture.

"From the words left behind on the stone tablets, it should be clear how we should choose. On this side is ’Yearning Abode Lodge’, which is highly likely to reflect Grandmaster Wu Yangzi’s nostalgia for his own homeland. Since that’s the case, it’s likely to be the underground chamber where Grandmaster Wu Yangzi lived in. On the other hand, ’Burying Sorrow Lodge’ is likely to refer to the place where those who confined Grandmaster Wu Yangzi here lived!"

"I agree with Qiqi’s point of view!" Princess Yu Fei-er nodded.

Xing Yuan, Wu Zhen, and Ye Qian also expressed their approval of that view.

They had agreed on this conclusion as soon as they saw the stone tablets, so it wasn’t too hard for them to agree with Luo Qiqi’s point of view.

Frowning, Zhang Xuan said, "I have an alternative point of view."

"May I know what teacher thinks of this matter?"

Luo Qiqi turned her eyes over.

The others also gathered their gazes on Zhang Xuan.

This young man had displayed outstanding performance ever since their arrival, so no one dared to take his words lightly anymore.

"Contrary to your perspective, I feel that ’Burying Sorrow Lodge’ is where Grandmaster Wu Yangzi lived instead. As for the reason, I can’t really put it out in words for you all!" Zhang Xuan said.

Touching the stone tablet only showed Zhang Xuan the mechanisms hidden within it. It didn’t explain the interior of the underground chamber within and whether it had anything to do with Wu Yangzi or not. As such, this conclusion actually came from his own hypothesis, and there was no concrete evidence behind it.

"How can that be?"

Princess Fei-er’s lips curled up into a sneer, and she harrumphed coldly. "Captured by others to become a weapon-forging machine, Grandmaster Wu Yangzi is surely filled with indignation and wrath. How could he possibly bury his sorrows under such circumstances?"

"Indeed. Captured, Grandmaster Wu Yangzi would surely be missing his own homeland. I agree with Sixth Princess’s view!" Xing Yuan nodded.

Knowing that her teacher wouldn’t raise claims without any basis behind them, Luo Qiqi asked, "Teacher, for you to say so... could it be that you have noticed something peculiar?"

"I didn’t notice anything out of ordinary, just that I am a little perplexed by the killing intent contained within the words ’Yearning Abode Lodge’. I have some understanding of painting, and I find it hard to believe that those words were left behind by a grandmaster blacksmith. On the other hand, the words ’Burying Sorrow Lodge’ seemed to emanate calmness and contained a far deeper intent into it. It felt more like the work of a grandmaster. That is the reason why I think so!" Zhang Xuan said.

"I got the same feeling as well..." Ye Qian interjected.

As a 5-star painter, he also felt similar intents from the two inscriptions on the stone tablets.

"Like we said before, it’s normal for there to be killing intent infused into his words. Captured and imprisoned, it would only be bizarre if he didn’t have such emotions. Burying Sorrow Lodge... Hehe, probably only those who captured him could live their days happily without any sorrow!"

Princess Fei-er shook her head. "I’ll still choose this passageway!"

From the very start, she harbored a great dislike for Zhang Xuan. Seeing that there was no strong basis behind the other party’s words, her confidence began to increase.

"I also choose this passageway!"

Xing Yuan nodded.

He would follow Princess Fei-er no matter where she went... Besides, he also thought that her words were more reasonable at the moment.

Princess Fei-er turned to Wu Zhen.

"What about you?"

"I..."

After a moment of hesitation, Wu Zhen nodded and replied, "I’ll choose here as well!"

He also felt that Princess Fei-er’s words were correct.

Seeing another person standing on her side, Princess Fei-er felt as though she was finally going to achieve victory over the other party. Delighted, she turned to the crown prince and asked, "Ye Qian, what about you?"

"I... agree more with Zhang shi’s words..." Ye Qian replied, but halfway through, he suddenly noticed the eyebrows of the princess in front of him shooting up all of the sudden, and his courage immediately faded. "However, I’ll still choose this passageway!"

"That’s more like it!"

Seeing her junior supporting her as well, Princess Fei-er nodded her head in satisfaction. She turned to Zhang Xuan with a triumphant look and said, "Alright, four of the six have made their decisions. What about you?"

Aren’t you good at betting?

Let’s see how you’ll win this time!

"I’ll still choose the passageway on the opposite end!" Before the other party’s provocation, Zhang Xuan could only shake his head. Turning to Luo Qiqi, he asked, "What about you?"

"I..."

Luo Qiqi hesitated for a while before eventually replying, "I’ll follow teacher!"

"Qiqi!"

Not expecting her close friend to actually betray her at such a moment, Yu Fei-er hurried forward and tried to persuade her otherwise. "Don’t you agree with our deduction as well? That passageway definitely has nothing to do with Grandmaster Wu Yangzi at all..."

Hearing the other party spouting such words, Zhang Xuan interjected with a smile. "Definitely? You sure sound certain. Do you dare to bet on it?"

"Of course!"

Yu Fei-er flung her sleeves majestically.

She possessed absolute confidence regarding this.

"Good. With so many people witnessing this, I doubt that you would refuse to pay up. This time, instead of ten thousand middle-tier spirit stones, the bet will be one high-tier spirit stone instead..."

Zhang Xuan chuckled lightly. "The victory will be decided by which passageway leads to Grandmaster Wu Yangzi’s living quarters. If the path I chose is correct, you’ll have to pay me one high-tier spirit stone. On the other hand... I’ll relieve you of your duties as my maid, and we’ll owe each another nothing!"

"Fine! But if you lose, not only must you relieve me as your maid, you must also repay the 700 middle-tier spirit stones back to me. Also... also..."

Princess Yu Fei-er gritted her teeth. "You must also serve me wine!"

"Sure, I’ll serve you wine if you win!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"It’s a deal then!"

Princess Yu Fei-er sneered coldly, "Just you wait! Let’s go!"

After which, she began walking into the stone passageway.

Xing Yuan, Ye Qian, and Wu Zhen followed closely behind her.

"Let’s go as well!"

Seeing them walking down the stone stairs, Zhang Xuan beckoned Luo Qiqi, and the duo crossed the bridge and descended down into the other passageway.